This invention relates to cup holders, and more specifically, to insulated cup holders for disposable beverage cups.
Recent years have seen an explosion in the use of so-called travel mugs. A typical travel mug is a vessel that includes an inner shell and an outer shell which are spaced from one another by a vacuum or insulating space. A removable lid is secured on the resulting assembly and typically is provided with a sip opening as well as a vent opening. A beverage may be introduced into the travel mug where its temperature, whether hot or cold, is maintained by the insulating qualities of the mug. A beverage may be consumed by extracting the same through the sip hole. Mugs of this sort are commonly used in vehicles as well as by pedestrians moving from one location to another.
At the same time, there has likewise been an explosion in the over-thecounter vending of beverages of various sorts, specialty coffees being one obvious example. Not infrequently, these beverages are sold in disposable plastic or paper cups that are fitted with lids. The lids conventionally have a sip opening and/or an opening through which a conventional straw may be introduced into the interior of the cup. Unfortunately, the nature of many disposable cups is such that they are incapable of maintaining the temperature of the beverage contained therein at a desired temperature in a manner even approaching that of, for example, travel mugs.
Unfortunately, many vendors of heated or chilled beverages are unwilling to dispense their product into one""s personal travel mug, preferring instead to use only disposable cups provided with disposable lids. As a consequence, customers purchasing from such vendors must either pour the contents of a disposable cup into their own personal travel mug or forego the desirable, temperature-retaining characteristics of such mugs.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above problems.
It is a principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved insulated holder for a beverage cup. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an insulated holder for a disposable beverage cup.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention achieves the foregoing object in an insulating cup holder in combination with a disposable beverage container. The disposable beverage container typically has a generally inverted frusto-conical side wall and an upper access openings surrounded by a radially, outwardly extending peripheral bead adapted to be connected to a disposable container lid by a snap fit within a downwardly and radially outwardly depending peripheral skirt on the lid. The container, of course, has a bottom, and a double walled insulating vessel is provided which includes an inner lining have a frusto-conical inner surface with a bottom and an upper access opening with a circular edge and shaped to matingly receive the disposable beverage container with the container side wall abutting the surface of the liner about substantially its entire extent. The container is sized so that a radially outer part of the bead is uncovered to be received and snap fitted within the skirt of a disposable lid. An outer body surrounds, in spaced relation, the inner liner. The inner liner and the outer body are sealingly attached to one another thereby defining a vacuum or insulating space between the inner liner and the outer body with the outer body being in non-interfering relation to the placement of a lid on the bead of the container.
In a preferred embodiment, the inner liner is also provided with an axially directed edge surrounding the upper access opening so that the axially extending edge will abut the underside of the bead of the disposable cup while leaving a radially outer part of the bead uncovered to be received and snap fitted within the skirt of a disposable lid. The outer body is sealingly attached to the inner liner just below the axially directed edge thereby defining a vacuum or insulating space between the inner liner and the outer liner as mentioned and without interfering with the placement of the lid on a container within the beverage holder.
Preferably, the axially directed edge is adapted to underlie the skirt of the lid in non-contacting relation.
In one embodiment, the inner liner and the outer body are formed of a metal.
In another embodiment, the inner liner and the outer body are formed of plastic.
One embodiment contemplates that the inner liner include a radially outwardly directed flange located just below the axially extending edge and the bead and that the outer body is sealed to the flange.
A preferred embodiment includes a grip on the outer body located near the top thereof.
In one embodiment of the invention, the container may be suspended within the inner liner by the abutment of the bead and the axially extending flange.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.